Health Care

PLAN has a long history of working towards ending health care disparities and reforming the nation’s health care delivery system in order to provide access to quality, affordable health care for all. This work has long been a core component of our work over the last 20 years. This work has included everything from the first HIV/AIDS Awareness Day at the Nevada Legislature and Medicaid advocacy to federal reform with the Affordable Care Act. Today, that work continues with the goal of creating an affordable and accessible Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA to cover low-income people unable to afford or access coverage under the existing delivery system and fighting for the complete eradication of health disparities that continue to plague communities of color in our state and across this nation. We are proud to have worked with our many state partners and member groups and have been fortunate enough to join with national partners over the years, including Families USA, Health Care for America Now, the SEIU, and many others in the struggle to bring about health equity in the United States.

Silver State Health Insurance Exchange

In response to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare), The Nevada Legislature created the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (SSHIX) in 2011 as a means to assist Nevadans in accessing quality, affordable health insurance coverage.

Currently, PLAN is fighting to ensure that the SSHIX is free of discrimination and accessible to Nevada’s most vulnerable populations, particularly low-income Nevadan’s, those with pre-existing conditions, and the LGBTQ communities. By engaging on every level of the SSHIX, through helping form a strong coalition to maximize the consumer benefit in the exchange, and pressing for health care rights of LGBTQ Nevadans, PLAN continues the fight to ensure that all Nevadans have access to the care they deserve.

The Affordable Care Act

After a long and hard-fought battle to reform the nation’s health care insurance and delivery system, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare) in March of 2010. After more than an additional year of political and legal battles, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional but left the issue of Medicaid expansion to cover the most vulnerable up to the states.

This continued work around the ACA/Obamacare on the Federal level through the public education and outreach efforts made possible by Families USA has helped position PLAN as a leading consumer health advocacy organization taking a strong public stance in support of the ACA prior to the Supreme Court ruling. This will aid PLAN in advocating for as well as pursuing the expansion of Medicaid for coverage of our state’s most vulnerable populations.

About

The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada was founded in 1994 to bring together diverse and potentially competing organizations into one cohesive force for social and environmental justice in Nevada. Since 1994, our organization has grown from 12 original founding member groups to a current membership of over 30 organizations.